THUNDER: The Hero’s Journey

Calgary Artist G. Gerald Garcia did some sketches of my hero, THUNDER, yesterday and reminded me that it was high time to talk about what’s been happening with the book here at Two Gargoyles Comics.

It’s always fascinating to me how life can imitate art. Thunder, my half-Norse God, half-Canadian, Super Polite hero, is the star of a comic about a young man seeking identity in a tale reflecting the Hero’s Journey of mythology: seeking realization of potential via the journey to maturity.

So, too, does the process of creating the comic mimic that journey. Thunder has more issues published than any other Twogargs comic: Four to date, with a fifth one more than half completed as of this writing! And yet, after the fourth issue there came a pause, a crossroads in the creative process.

The artist left the project, creating the need for change in the book going forward (and I’m excited about the direction in which it’s going, which I will share in another post!) but also leaving me with a decision to make looking backward: I always said after the fourth issue of Thunder I was going to collect those first four comics into one graphic novel, as a one-stop jumping-on point for those readers who wanted to have one big story arc all at once. Unfortunately, with the departure of the original artist came certain changes that needed to be made. So the decision was this: Pick apart the story or completely refresh it? I chose the latter: Why not have something fresh for existing Thunder fans to enjoy, as well as new readers?

Thus I began to search for new artists to deliver the Graphic Novel’s art even as the new artist began work on the newest issue of the comic.

But, like the Hero journeying through the Forest, I encountered obstacles. I found an artist who began to draw the first book with fresh eyes, and then suddenly his job and work-life balance changed, which meant he could no longer devote any time to the book. After finally realizing that (because I think we Indie comics people bend over backwards in the vain hope that maybe things are still possible even when we know darn well they aren’t) it wasn’t going to work out, I went with another artist.

This artist had life troubles from the get-go– not his fault, of course! Life Happens! But one can only say “it’s nobody’s fault” for so long before one realizes that isn’t the issue; the issue is there’s been no work done on one’s project for a number of weeks. And so, it came time to say goodbye to that relationship as well.

As of this writing, I have found another partner with the help of a Facebook group connecting writers and artists, and it seems as if Thunder can finally move forward into realizing that fresh, new Graphic Novel!

There’ll be refreshed art, new characters, slight changes to the story; it will still be the Thunder you’re used to but with a spiffy new shine to him.

I’ve been silent on this topic for so long, it is a great relief to finally share with my readers that YES, that Canadian super-hero you were getting to know is coming back in a BIG way. Watch this space as I continue this Hero’s Journey with all of you.